On this episode of The Exorcist, “Chapter Six: Star of the Morning,” Angela reunites with her mother, Father Bennett begins to suspect the darker forces at work have powerful allies among Chicago’s power players and Marcus fears time is running out for Casey.
It’s been a few weeks, so let’s review where things last left off. Father Tomas, corrupted by the demon, blew off his vow of chastity and had sex with long-time love, Jessica. Father Marcus failed to free Casey, and thanks to Kat’s intervention, she’s running loose on the streets of Chicago. The biggest development was that Angela turned out to be really Regan MacNeil, the victim in the original Exorcist movie. This is a twist I think the show could have skipped or, in the very least, saved for the season finale.
The Demon Child
Angela successfully hid her identity for decades, but the jig is up because the demon found her and shared the news with her husband, Henry. Also showing up to complicate Angela’s life is her estranged mother, Chris (Sharon Gless). It looks as if the demon is aiming for a quid pro quo situation. It will release Casey but only if mom takes her place.
The happy and close relationship of Regan and Chris from the movie saw have undergone quite a transformation. Chris chose to capitalize on her daughter’s dance with the devil, writing a book and dragging her all over the talk-show circuit. Yearning for normalcy, Angela disappeared. Chris eventually tracked her down — with the help of three private detectives — but Angela made it clear she didn’t want Chris in her life. But the news of Casey’s disappearance brought Chris back, trying to worm her way into Angela’s family fold.
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Henry is having trouble wrapping his head around the fact that his wife has been lying to him about her true identity. While Angela may want Chris to hit the bricks, Henry insists his mother-in-law hang around and use her celebrity in any way possible to help them find Casey.
Also helping in the search for Casey is Father Tomas who is still sporting his collar despite his indiscretion. He’s made St. Anthony’s a headquarters, and volunteers are distributing flyers all over the city, hoping to get a lead on Casey’s whereabouts.
Angela is starting to hear voices (indistinguishable as far as what they’re whispering), so it’s safe to assume the malevolent entities gathering in Chicago are gaining power. She’s also got to deal with Marcus who is livid that Angela left out the crucial information from her past.
The Union of Two Entities
The police believe there’s an accomplice involved in Casey’s disappearance since there’s no way a sedated, restrained girl could trash an ambulance and kill a couple of paramedics. Angela wonders what’s going to happen to Casey now. Marcus explains that possession is like a virus. The more aggressive the attack, the more damage it does to the body. The demon will force Casey to submit, and once that union occurs, the two entities become one — integration. Integration is said to be permanent. The soul is destroyed, so even if an exorcism is performed, it would’t matter. If they don’t find Casey soon, there won’t be anything left to save.
Marcus decides to try and track down Casey himself. Marcus explains to Tomas that demons have a tendency to disrupt the natural order — strange flocking behaviors: birds, dogs, people, etc. Father Tomas wants to help, but it’s one strike and you’re out in the exorcism game. Tomas just has too much to lose which means he can never be an exorcist.
A Unified Front
A candlelight vigil is held for Casey, and Tomas announces that St. Anthony’s is offering a hundred thousand dollar reward for information leading to Casey’s return. Mrs. Walters did tell him to do something good with that fat check she wrote him.
While the whole city and the police are searching for Casey, much isn’t being done regarding the murders and mutilation of the nine people in the Southside. An angry group of protesters crash the vigil, demanding justice for the forgotten. A woman reads the names of the deceased as we watch the presumed killers readying the victims’ organs for the summoning. This involves burning them down into ash.
The police have questions for Henry and Angela about the night Casey disappeared. They know Marcus was performing an exorcism and while he had Henry and Angela’s permission, Marcus’ actions weren’t sanctioned by the church. One of the cops, Superintendent Jaffey (Tim Hopper), has kept this out of the paper as a favor to his friends at the diocese. Jaffey is a good Catholic himself.
Jaffey wants to present a unified front to the media which means squashing rumors about possession. Apparently, this can confuse the issue. They’d like to question Marcus, but Angela has no idea where he is.
A Detective Lawrence (James Vincent Meredith) has some other concerns. Even though they’re treating the case as a kidnapping, he knows that Casey broke a man’s jaw on the train and was admitted to the psyche ward for treatment. He asks Angela if there’s any chance Casey could be responsible for the deaths of the paramedics. He shows her some pretty gruesome crime scene photos. Angela wants to know if the men had families and learns one had a wife and child with another on the way.
The Return of Captain Howdy
Chris tries to bond with Kat, explaining that what happened to Angela/Regan led to her career downfall. It turns out there is such a thing as bad publicity. Chris had to find a way to support herself and a daughter, even if it meant exposing Regan’s ordeal.
Kat wants to know from Chris why she thinks the demon chose Angela. Chris blames it on the Ouija board that Regan found and played with in the Georgetown house. Kat says it sounds like Chris is blaming the victim who was just a kid who didn’t do anything wrong. Chris takes full responsibility for what happened to Angela. Chris was the mother, and she wasn’t there for her child when she needed her. Her failure to protect Angela will follow her for the rest of her life.
Fallen Angels
Marcus and Father Bennett have joined forces with Cherry and Lester who are proving to be quite an asset. They learn that a Tattersal landscaping company filed for bankruptcy in 2004 — shuttered, closed, end of story. Three years ago, the company’s assets were acquired by Walters Industrial Holdings, the same Maria Walters who is in charge of the Papal Planning Committee and who has also taken Tomas under her wing.
Cherry and Lester checked with the state board only to find out no business license was ever renewed. Pretty strange since there have been Tattersal vans spotted all over town.
Jessica and Tomas speak for the first time since their fling. Tomas wants to know if Jessica feels guilty, but she refuses to apologize for being happy. He begins to explain about his duties and responsibilities, but Jessica cuts him off and lets him know she’s left her husband. She gives him the keys to her apartment, promising him a place of refuge. Some place where he doesn’t have to feel guilt or shame. Tomas tells her he won’t come (Or come again might be more accurate).
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Maria Walters and her husband are big donors to the Friars of Ascension, and the group is sponsoring an event at the Walters home, honoring the Papal Planning Committee. In attendance is Father Bennett. There’s a speaker, Dr. John Rexroth (Michael Patrick Thornton), who is a professor of Divinity at the University of Chicago. Maria can’t help but sing his praises to Bennett who also spots Jaffey. He comments to Maria he’s seen the man before, and she brags that the Superintendent isn’t the only influential person to support the Friars. Also on the guest list is the head of the Teamsters and the head of the stock exchange.
Rexroth gives a lecture about fallen angels — also known as demons — which piques Bennett’s interest. He wants to know if Rexroth has ever seen a demon before and throws out there that he has before the professor can even answer. Rexroth comments that Bennett is full of surprises. That’s the extent of their bizarre conversation. After Bennett leaves, Rexroth, Jaffey and Maria all exchanged worried looks. Who could have guessed the most prolific citizens in Chicago could be devil worshippers. (Maybe that’s the real reason it took so long for the Cubs to win the World Series!)
Friends In Low Places
Angela comes home to find Chris talking to a reporter. She demands that the reporter leave in spite of Chris’ insistence that keeping Casey’s name in the news is the best way to find her. Angela tells her mother that her life is falling apart, and Chris is still trying to make it about her. While Chris believes all she ever did was love her daughter, Angela’s recollections are different. She accuses her mother of using her, exploiting what happened to her just to save her acting career.
Chris’ defense is that they had no money, and she did the best she could. Angela was her whole world, and she left, leaving Chris to deal with the knowledge that she drove her away.
Their trip down memory lane is interrupted by a telephone call from the coroner’s office. They think they may have found Casey’s body. Angela and Henry are led into a room to identify the body, but it isn’t Casey. Angela’s so relieved she hugs Chris.
Marcus gets a tip about some wild dogs and finds himself at a some abandoned building /garage/tunnel late at night. The place is so odious even the rats are abandoning it in droves. The place is a gathering place for the who’s who of homeless, crazy, indigent, displaced, mentally ill of the city. Marcus calls out for Casey, but the only response he gets is a man repeatedly yelling “Stop him” over and over and over.
The crowd descends on Marcus, but he’s able to fight them off by invoking the name of Christ. That’s about the time Casey chooses to reveal herself and the girlfriend is looking rough. Marcus follows her to the water where he picks up where he left off. The two wrestle around in the water a bit, Marcus does what he does best, and it is Casey who speaks to Marcus. She warns him the demon is coming back and begs him to help her.
After the party breaks up, a few key players remain. Their idea of an after party is using the ashes of human sacrifices to invoke legions of demons. They are successful at calling something nasty forth, and after each person bets for it to take them, it decides to set up shop in Jaffey, much to Maria’s dismay.
Will Father Tomas be seduced by Maria Walters and her powerful cohorts? Can Marcus save Casey before it’s too late? Will Angela be forced to sacrifice herself for her daughter? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
The Exorcist season 1 airs Fridays at 9/8c on FOX. Want more news? Like our Exorcist page on Facebook.
(Image courtesy of FOX)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
Jennifer has worked as a freelance writer in the entertainment field since 2012. In addition to currently writing feature articles for Screen Rant, Jennifer has contributed content ranging from recaps to listicles to reviews for BuddyTV, PopMatters, TVRage, TVOvermind, and Tell-Tale TV. Links to some of Jennifer’s reviews can be found on Rotten Tomatoes.
